Fear and loathing in Monte Carlo
Peaking behind the curtain at the Monte Carlo Casino
Casinos are interesting places; designed to allure you in and part with your cash, they often have a sense of being outside of the realms of normal time zones, quite often when ensconced, people are under the influence of alcohol and adrenaline. There’s a certain private nature to their inner workings, and an exclusivity to their lesser know corridors. The Monte Carlo casino is no different, but it is one of the worlds more famous and established venues, with great history and prestige. It is famed for it’s appearance in the film Golden Eye and it subsequent association with James Bond, but the Casino which opened in 1863 has a rich heritage.
I was therefore very excited to be commissioned by Gentlemans Journal to visit the casino alongside the writer Jonny Wells and try to take the magazines readers behind the scenes of a normally very private establishment.
In the images I wanted to elicit a feeling of the exclusive nature of casinos, capture the pomp and ceremony but also their slightly hedonistic side. They are full of contradictions. As establishments they are designed to be disorientating places; in some way clientele are encouraged to let loose and have a flutter, and yet at the same time surveillance and security are everywhere. How one does this with still images is always an interesting challenge.
Part of the brief was also to show the ordinary people behind the casino. The venue is an important employer in Monte Carlo, and although residents are forbidden to gamble it provides an impoirtant place in the local scene. It takes a lot to run such a place, and not just croupiers and bar tenders but also a team of carpenters and engineers; I believe Monte Carlo Casino is the only if not one of the very few that make their own roulette tables. As it says in the piece:
“Every day, they are checked, vacuumed with handheld Dyson cleaners and polished from their top rails to their wheel turrets. They are clad in a wool softer than baize, woven by the same Belgian brand that supplies the King’s Guard, and dyed ‘Monte-Carlo Green’, a shade exclusive to the casino. Once unfurled in the workshop, this fabric is stapled to the custom-built tables and methodically spot-dyed with nitric acid to create the distinctive yellow markings of a particular game.”
“They are full of contradictions. As establishments they are designed to be disorientating places; in some way clientele are encouraged to let loose and have a flutter, and yet at the same time surveillance and security are everywhere.“
Overall I love these kind of assignments; features where I get to explore a place and try to document them in a visceral manner. It relies a lot on wits, and trusting your gut. With the decline of magazines, these kind of assignments are beginning to become a little rarer, but I do hope there is a way to keep this type of story and approach alive.
